After several inquiries among the professional library community, we decided that there is no copyright infringement in our republishing digital copies of yearbooks and other material from GCCA and GCBC. This seems to be the prevailing opinion of most, if not all, of my colleagues. While this is not an official legal opinion, coupled with two other factors, I feel confident that there is no copyright issue. The other factors being that the schools are no longer in existence and that I have talked with the founder's widow and a few other former administrators who fully support the project. In addition, I contacted Taylor publishing the publisher of the most recent yearbooks and their policy is as follows:
"Balfour (Taylor) prints millions of yearbooks every year, which prohibits us from keeping an inventory of past editions. At the end of each printing, all copies are sent to our customers for final distribution. However, if you have not already, we suggest contacting your school’s media center or yearbook adviser about backdated yearbooks. It is possible a copy of a past edition can be found in the journalism department. If you locate a yearbook and would like to reproduce it, first contact your school or district for permission." (We do have that permission from former officials of the schools.)
"Balfour (Taylor) prints millions of yearbooks every year, which prohibits us from keeping an inventory of past editions. At the end of each printing, all copies are sent to our customers for final distribution. However, if you have not already, we suggest contacting your school’s media center or yearbook adviser about backdated yearbooks. It is possible a copy of a past edition can be found in the journalism department. If you locate a yearbook and would like to reproduce it, first contact your school or district for permission." (We do have that permission from former officials of the schools.)
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